Like Our Parents
by I'm.a.bounty.hunter
Summary: Oneshot.  JJ deals with issues at home. Not related to my story 'Another Year'.


Hey, so I'm not really sure if it's the best idea to post this but I figured most people have seen their parents fighting at least once and I needed to get this out before it continued to eat at me so yeah.

I'd say enjoy but I'm not sure those are the right words so just let me know what you think.

I don't own criminal minds or the characters.

JJ sat on the porch swing in front of her house listening to her father scream from inside. He was so angry and the blonde girl knew that eventually he would start to throw things or punch holes in the door, throughout the house there was evidence of him losing control, plastered up holes or missing dishes from her grandmothers set which used to be displayed on the mantel piece. He had never hit her or her sister or even her mother but it didn't make the rage any less terrifying so JJ sat still, not making a sound and hoping it would end soon. She was aware that other people in the neighbourhood knew about how violent her father could be, once the people across the street had actually phoned the police, worried about what might be happening behind the closed doors of the Jareau house.

JJ heard the crash of splintering wood coming from the kitchen as she noticed her girlfriend walking along the sidewalk towards her, but as soon as the brunette got close enough to see her sitting on the porch shaking her head and heard the noise inside she stopped, looking into the eyes of the girl she loved Emily fought between her desire to comfort her and the knowledge that her presence there would probably only make it worse as it had in the past. She shared a look of concern with the blonde, mouthed the words 'I love you' and turn to walk away before she was seen knowing her girlfriend would come to find her as soon as she could.

Eventually the shouting and crashing inside the house stopped and JJ heard her father going out the back door. She stepped cautiously into the kitchen prepared to help clear the carnage left behind by the man now pacing and muttering to himself in the back yard. She looked into the broken eyes of her mother before sitting her in one of the chairs and taking the broom from her hands, it was a familiar routine, having to clean up the mess and already anticipating the way her father would come through the door and apologise as if this was the first and last time something like this would happen. At first JJ had accepted these apologies but over the years she came to resent them because she knew that they would not change anything.

So as she finished clearing up and put everything away she turned on the kettle and noticed her father walking back through the door. He pulled her against himself, into the place she once considered the safest in the world and muttered his apology into her hair, "Uh huh," she answered before turning back to the kettle while he repeated the move with her mother and sister who had taken refuge behind the closed door of her bedroom. She placed a cup of tea in front of her mother before walking out of the front door and following the path that would lead to her real safe place.

Emily was already waiting for her, sitting in the tree which hung over the water. She had known the brunette would be there waiting for her but a sigh of relief still escaped from between her lips as their eyes met again. The two sat silently watching the water flow down the river beneath them, heading somewhere new, and JJ began to envy it, the freedom of a river.

"Promise me that we will never end up like that." She said quietly, knowing it was her who needed to break the silence. "Promise me that the people we love will never have to see us do that to one another."

Emily pulled the blonde tighter into her side, "I promise," she whispered into the head of blonde hair now resting on her shoulder, "nothing on this Earth will cause me to react like that in front of you or anybody else. I know that it's hard but we're going to college in a few months and hopefully then your mom will find the strength to end all of this. I know you all love each other and that it's not always like this but it's happening more often and it's not okay. I hate the fact that you have to feel afraid inside your own house and I wish that there was more I could do to protect you. But it won't be like this forever.

Nobody's family is perfect and at least yours care enough to even get angry. I haven't seen my parents interact with any kind of emotion since I was a kid and that's not any fun either, I know it's not as scary as what happens with your dad sometimes but it's got this constant tension, like waiting for the damn to break and honestly there are days where I just want to scream at them to get a divorce and move on, sometimes I just think it would be better that way."

"Thank you Em and I know you would never but honestly sometimes I worry that I might end up like that one day as well. I mean I've heard people talking about how angry my grandmother used to get and it scares me, I don't think I could ever face being like that myself." JJ worried, squeezing her girlfriend tightly, wrapping herself in the feeling of security that emanated from the tall brunette.

"You won't ever be like that Jay, I've seen the way that you react when you're angry, you get really quiet and after a while you get past it, and you never let the things that upset you or make you angry build up and fester. That's not who you are, that's not who you are ever going to be. And I'll love you always, even if you are angry with me, even when you think you hate me, I'll always love you and we will never end up like our parents."

For the people who read my last story 'Another year' I know I promised another story and I am working on it but I'm a little buried in varsity work at the moment but and I don't want to give you a half thought out story so please be patient.


End file.
